Genius Playground

Chapter 22 Zhang Yang
After the lightning and thunder, the rain outside the window subsided considerably.

The incandescent light bulb's brightness stabilized and stopped flickering.

The eyes of the hundreds of Rhinecats that had been reflecting the lightning softened, as if the horror they had just experienced was just a joke.

"Hey, hey."

Qin Feng was the first to break the silence:

"Aren't you just scaring yourself? It's good to be cautious, but there's really no need to be overly cautious."

"If you are afraid to take a step forward, you will not be able to move forward at all."

"In the end, this matter, like the previous mysterious numbers, is nothing but baseless delusion, or even paranoia."

Jiang Ran smiled:
"I didn't say it was definitely like that; I was just guessing."

"The reason I have so many concerns is because I can't find answers to these two questions."

Hey.

The most annoying kind of problem is the one that can neither be proven nor disproven, and Jiang Ran was also torn between different options and couldn't make up her mind.

Cheng Mengxue looked at the two people from left to right.

He cautiously raised his hand:
"that……"

The two looked at each other, and Cheng Mengxue pointed her index finger at the small blackboard:
"Since Professor Zhang Yang talked about world line theory in class, and we also heard the term 'world line jump' from his class..."

"So why don't we ask Professor Zhang Yang about these two questions?"

Jiang Ran blinked.

Look back at the blackboard.

Worldline jump...

His gaze was fixed on that word.

Indeed, this term was not his original creation; it was used by Professor Zhang Yang in a general education course called "Parallel Worlds and Worldline Theory."

He just felt that the word described his situation very well, so he used it directly when explaining the problem to Cheng Mengxue.

Teacher Zhang Yang is very famous at the school.

It wasn't that he was particularly outstanding, but rather that his teacher's name was truly renowned; he was arguably one of the most senior and accomplished academicians in the Dragon Kingdom Academy of Sciences.

As the last disciple of this senior academician, Professor Zhang Yang returned to his alma mater, Tunghai University, after graduating with his doctorate, and was promoted to graduate supervisor this year.

So, Professor Zhang Yang must have been in contact with top figures in the physics community and should be familiar with many cutting-edge theories that have not yet been made public.

Cheng Mengxue is right.

Since we're completely clueless right now, why not consult Mr. Zhang Yang, who is more professional, knowledgeable, and erudite than them?

"Xiaoxue is right."

Jiang Ran stood up:
"The problems we are facing now happen to coincide with Professor Zhang Yang's research direction."

"He talked about the concept of 'worldline transition' in class. Although it's just a theoretical hypothesis, since we can't find the answer, we might as well listen to his opinion. Maybe we'll get some unexpected insights."

"Of course, secrecy is still necessary. We can't talk about time-space text messages, positron cannons, or the experiments we conduct. We can only ask hypothetical questions about the knowledge points covered in class."

Qin Feng also agreed:

"Professor Zhang Yang has a very high level of academic expertise and is a student of Academician Longke Academy. He may have some brilliant insights."

"Then it's settled."

Jiang Ran opened her phone and glanced at the class schedule:

"Although Professor Zhang Yang doesn't have any general education classes tomorrow, he has specialized courses in the School of Physics. Let's go ask him for help when he finishes class."

……

the next day.

The three arrived at the Physics Department teaching building ahead of time to wait.

After Professor Zhang Yang finished his professional class and the students left the classroom in twos and threes, the three of them came to the podium and explained their purpose to Professor Zhang Yang.

"Oh~ Hehehe."

Teacher Zhang Yang smiled and unscrewed the thermos:
“I’m so glad you came to see me. I’ve always thought that students in general education courses are just there to get credits, and not many of them pay attention in class… In fact, many students treat my classes like science fiction.”

"I didn't expect there to be students who actually listened and thought seriously. That's great, that's great. I'm really pleased to see the three of you. Now, what do you want to ask? I don't have a class next period, so I'll have a good chat with you here."

Just as Qin Feng said, Teacher Zhang Yang is a very nice person.

Cheng Mengxue was the first to raise her hand:
"Professor Zhang, we are very interested in the concept of 'worldline transition' that you mentioned before. At the same time, we also have some questions that we don't understand."

"Oh? What don't you understand?"

"It's about the process of the jump, what happens the instant the world line changes... We don't quite understand it."

Cheng Mengxue proceeded step by step, without immediately getting to the point.

"Oh, that is indeed a bit complicated."

Zhang Yang took a sip of tea and screwed the lid of his thermos onto the cup.
“After all, I’m teaching you a general education course, not a major course, so I haven’t explained it very thoroughly. Since you’re so interested, I’ll explain it to you again.” He picked up the chalk, drew a straight line on the blackboard, and then forked it at the end, connecting it into two parallel lines, one above the other.

"To make it easier to understand, let me use my own life as an example."

Teacher Zhang Yang pointed to the straight line in front:

"This straight line represents my life from birth to age 18. At age 18, I failed my college entrance exam for the first time, and at that time I faced two life choices."

"My first option was to repeat my senior year of high school and then take the college entrance exam again... I successfully entered Tunghai University the following year, then pursued my doctorate at the University of Science and Technology of Longnan, and then returned to my alma mater to teach, becoming your teacher."

As he spoke, he ran his finger along the fork in the straight line, down to the upper fork:

"This is the life I chose back then, which is also my life now. We can call this timeline A."

Jiang Ran and the other two nodded.

This concept is not difficult to understand, especially since they have discussed it countless times in private.

"However, when I failed the college entrance exam at the age of 18, I had a second option in life."

Teacher Zhang Yang's finger retreated to the fork in the straight line:

"I might not choose to repeat a year of high school, but instead enter the workforce directly or go south to work."

"I might have seized the opportunities presented by the internet during those years and become the CEO of a listed company, an internet giant, or a financial tycoon or something."

Cheng Mengxue was amused by Zhang Yang's humor.

But anything is possible. Who can predict what the path we didn't choose would have led to? What kind of life would it have taken us down?
This time, instead of sliding his finger upwards, Teacher Zhang Yang moved it to the parallel line below:
"So, the world line that Teacher Zhang didn't choose, the world line where I didn't become your teacher but became the CEO of a listed company, is called World Line B... Do you understand this?"

The three nodded again.

Having experienced several world line shifts, they naturally understand that different choices will lead to different world lines.

"but."

Teacher Zhang Yang then changed the subject:
"These two timelines cannot exist simultaneously."

"[Or rather, no two worldlines can exist simultaneously; our world can only operate on one fixed worldline.]"

He emphasized:
"Just like the hypothetical experiment of Schrödinger's cat, the cat in the box is either dead or alive. It is absolutely impossible for it to be 'both dead and alive' or some kind of 'superposition of dead and alive'."

……

Schrödinger's cat.

It is a well-known thought experiment.

In the 30s, the Copenhagen School, led by Niels Bohr, proposed the concept of "quantum superposition," which means that a quantum can be in multiple positions or multiple states simultaneously.

Einstein and Schrödinger, however, considered this view to be fallacious.

Einstein once wrote to Schrödinger, pointing out that the state of an unstable powder keg, which includes the superposition of explosive and unexploded states, is absurd.

Schrödinger also thought so.

To further illustrate this absurdity, he proposed the famous thought experiment, "Schrödinger's Cat"—

A cat, a bottle of poison, and a radioactive source were sealed in a box.

Whether the poison is released, i.e., whether the cat lives or dies, depends on the state of the radioactive atoms.

Therefore, according to the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, the cat is in a superposition of life and death before the box is opened and observed by humans.

This is obviously ridiculous.

Even if the box isn't opened, the cat inside can only be either dead or alive; it can't be both dead and alive at the same time.

As Mr. Zhang Yang just mentioned, it is impossible for him to choose to repeat a year of high school or not at the same time, nor is it possible for him to be on two different world lines at the same time.

but.

What happened next was even more ridiculous.

Schrödinger's "Schrödinger's Cat" experiment was originally intended as a critique or even ridicule of the Copenhagen interpretation.

But the result...

Because this experiment is simple to understand and widely disseminated, this seemingly contradictory experiment has now become part of the fundamental picture of contemporary quantum mechanics.

I wonder if Schrödinger himself would feel speechless and helpless seeing this situation today.

"Now, here comes the important part."

Teacher Zhang Yang taps the blackboard:

"Since different timelines cannot coexist, we who are currently in timeline A must resort to some unconventional methods if we want to jump to timeline B."

He smiled slightly and looked at the three of them from left to right:

"Now, the three of you, think about it—"

"What kind of action would trigger a change in the world line?"

"What would cause our world to jump from timeline A to timeline B?"

(End of this chapter)